


Jupiter Station

by TardisTexan



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Attempted assult (not by the Doctor), F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 22:37:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1165405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisTexan/pseuds/TardisTexan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is one night that River can't remember, and she's afraid something bad happened to her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jupiter Station

**Author's Note:**

> Warning - there is an attempted rape in this story and someone gets very angry about it. The attempt is not graphic and is stopped.
> 
> I hate to spoil the story, but I wanted to be upfront about it in case someone wouldn't want to read it because of that.  
> River asks the Doctor to to go Jupiter Station with her. She has been there, but she doesn't remember what happened to her.

The Doctor had picked River up at Stormcage and they were doing diaries. After going through a few things in her diary she said, "Have you done Jupiter Station?" 

"No, I haven't. But you have asked me about it several times, is it something really good? If so, I can't wait." the Doctor answered, grinning.

River looked indecisive for a moment, then said, "Honestly I don't know."

The Doctor looked at her, slightly worried, slightly skeptical. "River, what do you mean?"

River sighed and sat down in the jump seat. "I'm sure this is against some rule, but I've got to know. The thing is, I've been there and I absolutely don't remember it. I went one Friday night while I was in university. I took a shuttle with some classmates to the Station. They wanted to go shopping, but I didn't so I went to one of the bars in the station. I think I met a guy and but really I remember nothing after I walked into the bar. The next thing I know, I'm waking up on my bathroom floor back home, no idea what happened or how I got there. I called one of the people I was with and she told me I had just disappeared and they couldn't find me. They told me there was a space dragon and they were afraid I had gotten hurt, but they found me and I told them I was fine and to go on home. They thought I was going home with the guy I was with. I felt like something was off, something was wrong. But I was home okay and did feel hurt, I assumed I had drank too much so I put it out of my mind. I didn't even think about looking at news for the station because I didn't think it had anything to do with you.

Then about a year later, I found an account of a space dragon tearing through Jupiter Station and how a man called the Doctor and the woman thought to be his wife had helped people. We haven't been there together yet, and I thought at the time that maybe it was something we would do together in the future. But I checked the date and it was the date that I was there with my friends and couldn't remember anything. The guy I met is fuzzy in my memory, but he was not a different version of you, I'm sure of it."

The Doctor looked concerned. He sat down next to her and then pulled her onto his lap so they could share the seat. "So what are you suggesting?"

"I want to go, you and me. I want to go and see what happened."

"River, you know we can't do that! We can't cross our own timestreams like that. What if we ran into other versions of ourselves?"

"So? Since when have you ever shied away from talking to other versions of yourself."

"Okay, so maybe I don't always follow that rule. But what if there was a reason your mind had to be wiped? What if something horrible happened and I had to wipe your memory of it?"

"Number one, you would never dare alter my memories or I would kill you again. Number two, if it had been you, I wouldn't have woken up on my bathroom floor. I didn't have a vortex manipulator then. You would have had to brought me home in the TARDIS and you would have put me in my bed, right?"

"Yes, you are right," he said stroking her hair. "I wouldn't leave you on the floor."

"I'm afraid something bad might have happened to me," River said quietly. "I have holes in my memory from my childhood, but this seems different. It's just black and cold and it feels wrong, which is not what I would feel if I was there with you. I want to know. Will you go with me? If we see ourselves together and happy, then we will leave, but...."

"Are you sure, River?" She nodded. "Then yes, I will go with you." The Doctor put his hand on her cheek and pulled her to him and kissed her. He leaned back and rubbing his thumb across her cheek said, "If that's what you want, we will go. "

"Thank you, Sweetie. I'll drive."

\-----------------

River sat them down in one of outer rings of Jupiter Station. It was like one of those old train stations that had been turned into a mall, but 51st century. It was a space station parked near Jupiter that had become a mall, business center, had housing, and entertainment. River took the Doctor's hand and they took a moving sidewalk to the more exciting areas. She knew exactly where to go. 

After winding their way through the throng of people, they stood outside of a bar called Goob's. There was loud music playing and the interior was dark. They slipped inside, River holding tight to the Doctor's hand. They stayed just inside the door and River gestured to the bar. The Doctor looked over and saw a young River smiling and laughing at something the guy next to her had said. He was big and beefy, with short blond hair. He was leaning toward River, his hand on her leg. Young River laughed again and moved closer to the blond guy. 

The Doctor squirmed, his free hand running through his hair, his eyes wanting to look anywhere but at the young woman who was so clearly interested in the guy at the bar. River squeezed his hand and he felt her poking at his mind. He let her in and he heard her say, "I'm sorry, Sweetie, and I promise I will make this up to you later, but we need to watch what happened."

They watched for a little while and the bartender brought more drinks to the younger couple. Someone River knew walked by and she turned to speak to her. Older River and the Doctor watched as the blond guy put something in River's drink while her head was turned away. The Doctor gasped and River narrowed her eyes and said, "I knew it."

The Doctor started to head toward the bar, but River held him back. "No, we have to wait."

"What are you talking about?" the Doctor said angrily, "That guy just put something in your drink. There is no way I'm going to let you be around him one second longer."

"Yes, you are," River said in his mind, trying to keep things calm so people wouldn't notice them, "we can't do anything in here. I can't have people noticing there are two of me, and we still need to see what is going to happen before we do anything. There is a space dragon coming, remember?"

The Doctor looked toward the bar, seething, but he moved back to River's side. Younger River downed the tainted drink all at once. The blond guys hands were all over her and it was all the Doctor could do to keep his anger in check. He was in a rage. Older River kept his hand in hers, but she kept her eyes on her younger self. They had to wait a while longer before Younger River started to act like she was under the affect of the drug. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open and she was starting to lean on the blond guy. That's when he threw some cash on the bar and started to pull Younger River up from the bar stool and steer her toward the door. She had a very hard time walking and had to lean against him for support. He had a strange look of maybe triumph on his face as they headed for the door. 

Older River hid behind the Doctor as the younger couple walked by them and out the door. River and her husband followed behind. The guy put his arm around River and she stumbled next to him. He led her to a hallway that branched off toward the housing parts of the station. When he turned into the hallway, he looked behind him but he saw no one. As he pulled her farther into the hallway, Older River and the Doctor stepped into the hallway and followed quietly. Eventually, the guy leaned River against a wall and started kissing her roughly. Drugged River was slumped against the wall, and she put her hands up, maybe to push against him, but they fell back down to her sides. That's when older River said loudly, "Let her go."

The guy's head jerked up and when he saw River and the Doctor, his jaw dropped. He looked at the River slumped against the wall and then back at the River standing in the hall with her arms crossed and he looked stunned. "But... what.. " the guy stammered and dropped Younger River. The Doctor quickly ran over and pulled her to him, cradling her head against his shoulder. 

Younger River murmured "Doctor? Hebbo Sweepie" very softly and then was out. Older River walked toward the guy who was still stunned and executed a perfect roundhouse kick right into his chest. The guy flew back and hit the ground with a thud. When he started to get up, River walked over to him and leaned over and punched him in the face. But she didn't stop punching him, she kept hitting him and hitting him. The Doctor panicked. He couldn't let River kill him. Yes, he wanted to do exactly the same thing, but even though she was trained to kill, actually killing this guy with her bare hands would do her irreparable harm.

"River! River stop!" he yelled. He picked up younger River in his arms and went over to his wife. "River, please stop. Please." When she ignored him and kept hitting the guy he said loudly, "Melody Pond, stop this instant!" River looked up at him, blinking. She stood up and said "Why? This guy doesn't deserve to live." 

"No, he doesn't, but I can't let you kill him this way."

"How about this way, then?" she asked, pulling a gun from the holster she had concealed under her dress and pointing it at the man on the ground.

The Doctor looked at her seriously, "River, I can't stop you from shooting him. In fact, I might do it myself if I didn't already have my hands full. But I just ask you to stop and consider for a moment."

River did consider for a moment and then she lowered the gun and shot the guy in the groin. The guy screamed and curled up in a ball. River leaned down close to him and said, "I didn't destroy you. I glanced it off your leg so your precious jewels are for the most part still intact. But let me tell you something right now. If you survive whatever it is that is going to happen on this station tonight, you will never do this to another woman again, do you hear me? My husband here and I are going to watch you, and trust me when I say that we can watch you no matter where you run to. If you ever ever treat another woman like you treated me tonight, I will kill you. Do you understand?" The guy looked at her and cried in pain again. River said a bit more angry, a bit louder "Do you understand?"

The guy nodded and River stood up. She looked at the Doctor holding the younger her and flipped open her vortex manipulator. She punched in the coordinates and then put her arms around both of them. In a flash, they were back in her college apartment. "Please take her to the bathroom and lay her on the floor," River said, running a hand through her hair. 

"But why don't we put her to bed?" the Doctor asked, his eyes concerned.

"Well, we already know it's the bathroom, don't we? You have to do it. But there is a reason. When I get sick, cleaning up the bathroom floor is easier than cleaning the bed."

The Doctor didn't like it, but he had to do it because River already knew she woke up there. He laid her on the bath rug and brushed her curls back from her face. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead then went back to find his wife. 

River was sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. He sat down next to her. "I wanted to kill him," she said. 

"So did I," the Doctor said, his voice flat. 

"Then why didn't you let me? You've seen me kill before. I know you don't really like it, but..."

"River you know why. It's one thing to shoot something that is chasing you or a threat to you with nothing but destruction on their minds, but that was a human and he wasn't a threat to you any longer. And if you had beat him to death, then.."

River sat, saying nothing. The Doctor took one of her hands, "River, I saw what happened, but I don't understand it. That girl laying in there on the floor is a trained assassin. She is a very capable, very deadly weapon. She killed me with a poison kiss. I've seen you drug so many men and women, not to take advantage of them obviously, but you drug others you don't get drugged..." His voice got quiet, "How could that pathetic loser get to you so easily? Not that this is your fault in any way shape or form, I just don't.."

"I know what you are saying. I know you don't think this is my fault. But maybe it is a bit." River sighed, still not looking at him. "I came to Luna University to find you, but there were times when I didn't want to find you. I wanted to be anything other than but the woman who killed the Doctor. I didn't want to be an assassin. And there was the whole thing with the man I would love someday already sitting there waiting for me to hurry up and become his wife. I didn't want to be the thing I was or be trapped in the situation I was in. I wanted to be the carefree college student like everyone else was. I know you understand that. I'm starting to meet younger you, and younger you doesn't at all want what we will become."

"That's not true. He does want it, he wants it quite a bit. It just scares him."

"Exactly. It scared me too. It was too big. My whole life was pointed toward one man and some days I wanted him more than anything else. But some days it scared me so much I wanted nothing more than to run and be anyone other than Melody Pond or River Song. So, I did some stupid things. On those days I would ignore all of my training and try to forget. Try to be a kid. After this night, I didn't  
do it again. I hadn't remembered what had happened, but I knew it had been bad because I was being stupid. I lowered my guard, I ignored my instincts and I let some low life drug me and he would have..."

"This is not your fault," the Doctor said. "What happened is not your fault. We all make mistakes. And you and I will be there to catch each other when we fall. You have saved me so many times, and tonight you saved yourself."

River sighed and closed her eyes and saw the bloody face of the blond guy. "Am I ever going to be anything but a killer? I want to be more, so much more. I want to find lost civilizations, I want to advance the field of archiology, I want to write and teach, I want to be a good wife and daughter..... but they made me a killer and maybe that's all I'll ever really be. The Tesselector only knew Melody  
Pond as the woman who kills the Doctor. And I'm stuck in prison for life, how can I think I'll ever be known for anything but being a killer?"

"Oh River," the Doctor pulled her around to face him. "You are not just a killer. You are the most amazing, brave, wonderful woman I will ever know. And I promise you that you will do all of those things. In the end, the universe will not know River Song as a killer. 

Do you trust me? Trust my judgement? I wouldn't love a woman who was only a killer, right? I'm only going to love the most amazing woman in the universe. And I love you, very much. Let me show you, show you how amazing you are, how much I love you."

The Doctor cupped her face with his hand and kissed her. He was tender, not wanting to demand anything from her. He wanted to give to her, to show her. She wound her arms around him and leaned into him, parting her lips so he could deepen the kiss. There was nothing better than this, being in her husband's arms knowing that he loved her. He sent a few thoughts into her mind, of love, acceptance, how dazzled he was of her. 

When they parted, he looked into her eyes and saw that the despair he had seen a few moments ago was beginning to leave. Well, if getting River to feel better took kisses, he could manage that. He kissed her again, being a little more forceful this time and River welcomed it. She leaned back to lay on the couch and pulled him down with her. Her tongue darted into his mouth and danced with his,  
loving the feel and taste of him. He gave her images of times she had taken his breath away, of times when he had been proud of her, of when he felt taken care of and times when they were happy. When he pulled back to look at her again, he saw the smile had returned to her eyes. 

"I haven't snogged on this couch like this with you for a long time," she said teasingly. The Doctor turned red, it hadn't been all that long for him actually. He had just seen university River last week and he had been pretty close to the same position he was in right now. River's hands ran down his back and grasped his bum, pulling his hips into hers. "And if I remember correctly how this works, sometimes we make it to the bedroom and sometimes we don't."

"River," the Doctor said with concern in his voice, "Are you sure? After..."

"Yes, I'm sure. You said you were going to show me how much you loved me, and that is something I really need right now."

The Doctor immediately stood, and pulled her up with him. He looked toward the bathroom. He couldn't bear the thought that she was in there on the cold floor while he was about to be in her warm bed with another version of her. It was just horrible. "Take us back to the TARDIS, please River."

"Sentimental idiot," she said fondly, but quickly took them back. 

\------------

A bit later, as they still lay on the console room floor, breathing heavily wrapped in a blanket that River had taken from the corner of her couch, they heard a loud crash. The TARDIS rocked as what sounded like heavy footsteps rumbled by.

"Space Dragon!" they both said at once. They got into their clothes as quickly as they could and ran out the door. They followed the destruction and found the dragon in the middle of the shopping mall, screaming and breathing fire. The Doctor quickly figured out that the dragon was lost and scared, and had probably come in search of food. River ran toward the security forces who had just appeared with their guns pointed at the dragon as the Doctor tried to speak to the creature. 

River tried to keep the peace and begged the security forces to help the people trapped by the fires in the shops instead of shooting at the dragon. She pleaded with them, but they didn't really hear her until they saw the dragon visibly calm and bend its head toward the Doctor. They left a small group with guns trained on the dragon but the majority of them went toward the burning shops. River helped them. It seemed like she spent hours there, putting out fires, tending wounds, gathering people together. She heard the people who were coming to help talking about how a strange man had led the dragon back the way it came. Then she heard a story of the man leading the dragon to a section with several restaurants and making the chefs feed it. One person said the crazy man was actually  
talking to the dragon and they seemed to be laughing at each other. 

Eventually she heard that the dragon was outside of the Station and all the fires were out. There were a lot of injuries, but as far as she knew, mercifully no one had died. The Doctor found her sitting against a wall exhausted. He sat down with her and told her that the dragon's name was Lucieness and she had hit her head when she got caught in a meteor shower. She was very sorry for the problems she had caused but was thankful to the people here for feeding her and helping her get back outside. "I think the Station just got an official mascot!" the Doctor smiled cheerfully. "And I hear that you have been quite the nurse tonight." He softly bopped her nose. "Your father would be proud."

River laid her head against his shoulder as many people came by to talk to the Doctor and hear about the dragon. He talked for a little while but could see his wife getting very tired so he excused himself and took her back to the TARDIS. After they were in the vortex he took her back to their room and took off her clothes and put her to bed. He remembered earlier in the night that he couldn't put younger River to bed, so he would take care of this one instead. So much had happened to her this evening, it was a lot to process and he knew she wouldn't sleep easily. Once she drifted off, he crept into her mind. He tried to give her peaceful images so she would rest. He hated manipulating her mind, but she needed good rest and the Doctor had plans.

\--------

Once River was deeply asleep, the Doctor went to the console and told the TARDIS what he wanted. She happily obliged, taking him exactly where he wanted to go which was right back where they had just came from. The Doctor walked through the halls of the Station's hospital. He found the blond guy in a room at the end of a hall. The Doctor stood at the end of the bed and looked at the guy until the man in the bed opened his eyes. "I'm watching you," he said with venom in his voice. The man in the bed's eyes were cloudy with pain medications and he dropped back off. The Doctor left.

On the second stop, the Doctor stepped out of the doors finding himself in an office building. He looked at the directory and found a picture of a familiar blond man under the name of a law firm. He went upstairs and waited patiently for the secretary to let him in the man's office. When he went in, the blond man blanched. He was older, but obviously recognized the Doctor. 

The Doctor walked up and put both hands on the man's desk. The Doctor stared at him, the fury of a thousand years swirling in his eyes. This was the face of the Oncoming Storm and the man visibly shrank in his chair. After three whole minutes of staring, the Doctor turned around and walked out of the office.

Next stop was a few years later, on a street corner in a large city. The Doctor stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the TARDIS and glowered at the man as he came out of a shop. The man stopped short and turned around and went the other way.

Another stop, a few years later and at a party. The Doctor noticed that the man was drinking coffee instead of alcohol like the rest of the guests. He walked up to the man and looked him in the eyes, the fury still there. The Doctor stood very still with his hands behind his back for a few seconds and then he turned and left.

On the last stop, the Doctor found the man with greying hair and in judges robes. He was coming out of a courtroom and saw the Doctor standing against the back wall. They looked at each other for a long moment, and then the man left.

The Doctor returned to the TARIDS and the bedroom he shared with River. He removed his clothes and laid down behind her. He put his arm over her and pulled her close against his chest. He kissed her shoulder softly and held her. The Doctor had no doubt that River would later do the same thing he had done tonight, although she may be a bit more rough than he was. 

He put the man out of his mind and focused on the woman in his arms. He had no words for this. _I'm sorry, I love you, you are amazing, I didn't protect you, I want to protect you_ all ran through this mind but seemed inadequate. So he just held her and would be holding her when she woke up.


End file.
